Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stake in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,409,095 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $21,993,689,000 after buying an additional 239,753 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,917,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,954 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,965,159 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,800,447,000 after purchasing an additional 97,966 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,142,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,606,354,000 after purchasing an additional 123,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 19.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,556,485,000 after purchasing an additional 815,768 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.91.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares in the company, valued at $30,690. This represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,160,270. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 15,134 shares of company stock valued at $4,570,716 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MCD stock opened at $299.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $213.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $304.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.94. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $276.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.48%.

McDonald’s Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.